


but can we handle being kids

by shinelikestars



Category: Butterfly Soup (Visual Novel)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Drunken Confessions, F/F, First Kiss, Fluff, Idiots in Love, Underage Drinking, au where diya & min aren't dating yet, uh oh it's a high school party
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-26
Updated: 2017-11-26
Packaged: 2019-02-06 22:46:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12827727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shinelikestars/pseuds/shinelikestars
Summary: noelle thinks she doesn't like parties. diya feels the same. min and akarsha prove them wrong.(AKA the one where the squad goes to a party and they all figure out Important Stuff!!!)





	but can we handle being kids

**Author's Note:**

> lyrics taken from "gravel to tempo" by hayley kiyoko.
> 
> heyy so whoops here i am again, sorry y'all i just can't stop
> 
> apparently i am posting this on diya's canonical birthday so?? that's cool
> 
> anyway this is set sometime in the winter of sophomore year, in a universe where diya and min actually haven't confessed to each other that they like each other yet. 
> 
> note: i do not condone underaged drinking!!! so don't read this as me telling you to do it to find love bc no!! i'm just a huge fan of clichés ok!!
> 
> additional note: consent is important so pls ask before you kiss ppl ok or at least find a way to make sure they're like 100% ok with it
> 
> also i have a headcanon that noelle gets SUPER wordy, like even wordier than usual, when she's nervous or worked up which is why she's so stupidly formal at the start of this
> 
> and ha what is it with my trope of having either noelle or akarsha freaking out at the sight of one another with their hair down. i'm so predictable
> 
> anyway it's almost 1 AM where i live so i'm gonna go before i devolve into sleep-deprived ramblings but thank you if you're reading this & ily!!!

“We have a problem.” That’s the first thing out of Noelle’s mouth when she arrives at their lunch table Thursday morning. Normally, Diya would be more prepared to question the actual likelihood of an issue, since her friend’s definition of a problem usually tends to involve anything less than a 98 going in the gradebook, but since she can see from all the way over here that Noelle’s fingers are going white where they grip the edge of the table, she’s pretty sure there’s actually a serious dilemma at hand.

 

Unfortunately, a presentation in AP Bio this morning still has her feeling kind of woozy, so talking is kind of out of the question at the moment.

 

Thankfully, she and Noelle don’t need to talk to communicate — one of the many upsides of sticking by someone’s side since their monkey bar years. The raised eyebrow she sends Noelle’s way is enough to ask what’s wrong.

 

“Luisa and Seo-yun from orchestra invited me to a party.” The statement looks as though it physically pains Noelle, which naturally gets both Akarsha and Min cackling. However, the death glare they receive for their troubles instantaneously halts any trace of laughter. “It’s not funny,” Noelle snaps. “Partying is typically reserved for losers with low GPAs who have nothing better to do, but apparently this time I’m going to be forced to join their ranks.”

 

“I don’t think anyone’s gonna be clamoring for you to party with them,” Min snickers.

 

“‘Clamoring.’ That’s a big word coming from you, Min-seo,” Noelle replies darkly, lips pressed into a thin line. Diya has to wonder how Min is seemingly immune to the daggers practically shooting out of the other girl’s eyes. It’s admirable, but also kind of scary.

 

“Diya’s been helping me study for the SAT,” Min says proudly. Diya elects to reach across the table and steal a grape from Noelle’s lunchbox, trying hard to ignore the warmth that spreads throughout her chest at the sound of her name on Min’s lips. Akarsha doesn’t make it easy, though, wiggling her eyebrows when Min’s not looking and causing Diya to blush. Yeah, she’s probably pretty obvious. _Reason #342 why Min definitely doesn’t like you back and is just pretending you’re not pathetically transparent in order to spare your feelings—_

 

Noelle hands another grape to her, then clears her throat. “ _Anyway_. Back to the issue we were discussing. There is absolutely no way I can attend this party—”

 

“Aw, c’mon, Frenchman, lighten up a little. I know you’ve got it in you, somewhere in that cold, dead heart of yours—”

 

“ _Shut up_ , Akarsha. As I was saying before, there is absolutely no way I can attend this party without backup. Therefore, I’m enlisting you two—” Noelle points to Diya and Akarsha— “to come with me. Min, you can join in if you so desire, but frankly, a part of me feels as though you’d only embarrass the rest of us by threatening someone’s life and ruining the party.” 

 

“Why are you acting like this party is a fuckin’ life-or-death situation?” Min asks, rolling her eyes. She’s got one hand in her jacket pocket, and Diya can tell that she’s tracing the outline of her knife, a subconscious habit she’s developed over the past year. Noelle’s noticed it, too, and absolutely blames it on Diya — she says she’s an enabler, since she bought Min a special-edition butterfly knife with a black leather handle for her birthday last summer. Now it’s the only knife Min will bring on campus. 

 

Noelle sighs heavily. “Because Luisa and Seo-yun have, for some reason, made it their personal mission to ‘socialize me,’ as they call it, and have promised me they’ll check out the Death Bagels if I come to their party. I don’t think they’re lying. And seeing as they’re two of the most popular girls in our grade, I believe they could provide us with a vital boost in membership that would likely prove extremely advantageous for our funding.”

 

No one dares to mention the unspoken second part of Noelle’s reasoning — the idea that it might make Chryssa proud. The former co-captain is off doing wonders in biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins, but she’s still kept in touch with Noelle, and it’s no secret that Noelle holds a soft spot for the older girl, even if she thinks it is. 

 

Diya knows that Noelle wants the baseball club to be successful, both for Chryssa’s sake and her own. Their team is one of the few things that has kept them sane enough to survive the pressure cooker that is their high school, and one of the sole opportunities Noelle gets to hang out with all of them at once. 

 

And really, Diya just wants Noelle to be happy.

 

So she musters up the courage to mutter, “Let’s go.” 

 

And Noelle smiles. 

 

••••

It’s somewhere around 9 PM Friday night when Noelle decides this is actually a terrible, horrible, inescapably _foolish_ idea. 

 

She’s standing in front of the mirror, simultaneously transfixed and terrified by the sight of her hair out of a braid, trying not to panic. There’s certainly no backing out now — Luisa has already received her RSVP note, courtesy of orchestra practice that afternoon, and Diya will be swinging by in an hour to pick her up (which really just entails ensuring she doesn’t break her neck sneaking out and then walking with her to Seo-yun’s house — the perks of living in the same neighborhood as all their classmates). Besides, Noelle has to remind herself, this is really for the greater good. The baseball team is in desperate need of funding — with Chryssa and Liz’s departure last year, there’s only about eight of them, one new girl having joined this year, and their jerseys are verging on worn-out. 

 

Akarsha had messaged her earlier instructing her to “get fancy”, but Noelle has no idea what that really means. She owns a grand total of four cosmetic items, all of which have been gifted to her by various cousins from Taiwan over the years and are likely on the cusp of expiring. And her hair — well, the only curling irons Noelle ever sees are the ones in ads in those trashy teen magazines Akarsha sometimes brings to lunch. Her mother has spent her entire life lecturing her on the pointlessness of vanity when there’s work to be done, and Noelle supposes she’s taken it to heart. At least, that’s what the despondently sparse “makeup” drawer at the bottom of her dresser implies.

 

It only takes her a moment to decide that Google probably holds the answers. She’ll have to delete her history afterwards in case her mom feels like snooping, but that’s a much better prospect than turning up to her first and last high school party looking like an idiot. 

 

(Wait, why does she even care?)

 

(She doesn’t know why. And that’s more than a little frightening.)

 

Okay, so what Seventeen Magazine calls a “smoky eye” is something Noelle probably can’t replicate with her limited resources, and she’s _definitely_ not putting glitter anywhere in the general vicinity of her lips. However, ten minutes later, that strawberry-scented lip stain (courtesy of Cousin Mei) and a questionable tube of “Volume  & Curl” mascara (thanks to Cousin Emily) have the reflection in the mirror looking not so bad. Better than Noelle had expected, anyway.

 

(She briefly considers sending a picture to Akarsha, then immediately doubts her own sanity.)

 

“What are you doing? What is that on your face?” 

 

The smile disappears from her lips the moment she realizes it’s there. 

 

“It’s for an AP Psychology project. We’re supposed to photograph ourselves in a way that represents how we feel society wants us to look.” The lie comes easily and quickly, a practiced skill she’s learned as a consequence of her adolescence. Teenage rebellion (otherwise known as refusing to study more than four hours at a time) and Noelle’s mother don’t mix well. 

 

“Where is the assignment sheet?” her mother demands, heading for the messenger bag propped against the end of her bed. “I want to see.” 

 

Noelle falters for a moment, but the thought of Diya walking alone to the party spurs her into action. “The teacher assigned it verbally this morning,” she says. “I’m sure he’ll give us a sheet on Monday, but I can email him and ask for a copy in advance.” Freshman year taught her that fighting with her parents was pointless, merely a waste of her time and breath, so attempting to appease has been her best bet as of late. 

 

Her mother pauses; Noelle swears she can watch as she contemplates the potential benefits in her head. Finally, she settles for a clipped, “No,” instantly dissipating every molecule of tension in Noelle’s body. 

 

“Get back to your workbooks. You should be done with Linear Algebra by Sunday,” her mother adds, surveying the room briefly before turning to leave. “And remember — waste your time on small things, lose bigger opportunities,” she calls over her shoulder. 

 

Noelle’s never been so grateful to hear a door close. 

 

••••

Fun Fact #1: Diya’s never been to a party.

 

There’s good reason for that — generally, social anxiety and alcohol aren’t the best of pairings. Plus, what if she says something stupid? Or what if someone invites her to play one of those party games, Truth or Dare or something like that, and then she embarrasses herself and everyone at school knows it and she never lives it down?

 

It makes her heart race at an unhealthy rate just to think about it. So yeah, Diya’s never been particularly interested in parties before.

 

But something about this party feels different. She’ll have Akarsha and Noelle there, so it’s not like they’ll let her do anything too humiliating, right? And it’s for the Death Bagels, really, and — and Min is going to be there.

 

_Min’s gonna be there._

 

Fun Fact #2: Min-seo makes Diya feel things she didn’t know she could feel, things she didn’t know if she _should_ feel.

 

Min makes her heart stutter, leaves her with sweaty palms and an even more severe inability to speak than usual. Min makes her happy — no, scratch that, _giddy_. Min makes her feel like she’s not a total coward, even calls her a “badass”, and Diya can’t begin to think of a way to thank her for that. She might have scored an 800 on the Reading  & Writing section of her SAT, but she has no idea how to articulate exactly what Min means to her.

 

Min’s kind of everything, even and especially when Diya feels like nothing. And having her back has been the best gift she never even thought to ask for, even better than an entire kennel’s worth of puppies. 

 

(Diya doesn’t know what she did to deserve her. She’s not sure that she does deserve her.)

 

Akarsha insists that she should just find some guts and ask her out already — but Akarsha would probably flirt with a wall if she got the chance, so. Maybe not the best source of advice in Diya’s case.

 

(But what if she does ask her out? What happens if Min says no, sorry, I don’t like you back?)

 

(That’s the most humiliating thing Diya could imagine. And she’s 99% certain that’s the kind of humiliation she couldn’t recover from.)

 

On the walk over to Noelle’s house, she tries to pretend every text she gets from Min doesn’t make her grin like an idiot. The glare of the streetlights definitely doesn’t conceal her smile, though, and she prays her neighbors won’t notice and call her parents to ask why their daughter is walking the streets smiling like a crazy person at 9:45 at night. That would be borderline disastrous.

 

By the time she arrives at Noelle’s, her heart’s threatening to beat out of her chest, and her typical hoodie-and-long-sleeved-shirt ensemble feels far too warm. (Basically, she’s a mess.) She’s fully prepared for her oldest friend to comment on the anxiety likely written all over her face, but when Noelle drops down from her bedroom window on the second floor (she’s lucky it’s not that high up), Diya quickly realizes that she might be the one doing the commenting.

 

(Because Noelle’s wearing makeup. Like, actual, honest-to-goodness makeup. And she looks pretty, of course, because it’s Noelle and how could she not be, but _whoa_ this is way out of character.)

 

“You’re wearing makeup,” is how she chooses to start the conversation. Not a great choice, because Noelle huffs and squares her shoulders — a tell-tale sign of embarrassment in her world.

 

“One of us has to make a decent impression,” she mutters, accidentally scuffing the toe of her loafer against a rock as they start on the path to Seo-yun’s house. 

 

“Looks good.”

 

“Thank you. I did my best.” 

 

They spend the rest of the walk in silence.

 

(Diya totally doesn’t occupy the time with thoughts of Min. Nope.)

 

••••

Luisa and Seo-yun are apparently even more well-liked than Noelle’s original calculations had projected, because there’s at least eighty of their classmates sprawled across every corner of the considerably large Park residence. 

 

(She is, admittedly, a little jealous. Seo-yun is the only Asian kid she knows whose parents will leave her home alone for an entire weekend. Noelle’s lucky if she gets a few hours.) 

 

Diya freezes up the moment she sees more than four people in one room, so despite the panic swirling in her own chest, Noelle takes it upon herself to lead them through the crowd. She feels a bit ridiculous, grabbing the hand of a girl who is six inches taller than her, but it’s important they greet their hosts to get things in motion for the baseball club, and absolutely nothing good will happen if she leaves Diya standing here. (And yeah, maybe having Diya by her side makes her feel the tiniest bit better.)

 

Akarsha’s out by the pool. Noelle spots her through the glass doors in seconds, thanks to that ridiculously neon windbreaker of hers. She’s staring into a plastic red cup when Noelle arrives with Diya in tow.

 

“We made it,” Noelle declares, letting go of Diya to plant both hands firmly on her hips. It’s her victory pose; she has a theory that if she adopts this stance for most of the night, this party might actually turn out okay. 

 

Akarsha takes a gulp from her cup, then finally meets Noelle’s eyes, only for her face to go bright red — though Noelle can’t tell if that’s from the alcohol or something else —as her drink evidently goes down the wrong pipe. The sounds of her choking would be slightly amusing if Noelle weren’t concerned about the possibility of damage to her windpipe, but she knows from first-aid training that the other girl’s ability to cough means she’ll be perfectly fine. 

 

“You okay?” Diya asks, giving Akarsha a solid pat on the back. Noelle has to laugh at that — Diya doesn’t know her own strength, and the force of the pat leaves Akarsha doubled over, wheezing as she tries to speak.

 

“Dunno what you’re talking about,” she gasps out. “Must’ve been — glitch in the matrix.”

 

Noelle rolls her eyes, then glances suspiciously at the half-crumpled cup in Akarsha’s hand. “I’m going to spare myself the stress and not bother asking what’s in your cup.” 

 

“Rum and somethin’,” comes a voice from behind them, and Noelle jumps nearly a foot in the air at the unexpected interruption. Her surprise is fast overtaken by irritation when she sees that it’s Min, bearing two cups of the same unidentifiable substance. “Wanna try?” she says, offering one to Noelle.

 

“I’m here on business,” she replies, glaring at the offensive drink. 

 

“So? How’s the saying go — always mix business with pleasure?” Min grins.

 

Sometimes, Noelle really wonders how she deals with Min-seo. “No, it’s _don’t_ mix business with pleasure, and that’s not even really a saying,” she tells her, then turns to Diya and Akarsha. “I need to go find Luisa and Seo-yun. Try not to break too many laws while I’m gone.” 

 

(She has a feeling Akarsha and Min will _definitely_ be doing that.)

 

And as she walks away, Noelle tries not to think too hard about how pretty Akarsha had looked with a blush on her cheeks.

 

Nope. She’s here on business only.

 

_Business._

 

••••

Noelle’s the only one of them who doesn’t have a phone yet, so when she still hasn’t come back after fifteen minutes, Akarsha volunteers to track her down. 

 

Leaving her alone, of course, with Min. And that’s both terrifying and exhilarating, and also leads her to make relatively stupid decisions, apparently, because when Min asks if she wants a drink, Diya doesn’t turn her down. She actually enjoys it, which is just — not what she was expecting at all. 

 

And then one drink turns into two, and then three. So. Now she’s pretty tipsy.

 

(This is probably unhealthy. She’s been reading about the dangers of underage drinking in her health textbooks for years, but. She suddenly just really doesn’t care.)

 

“You know I’d, like, kill for you, right?” Min drawls. It’s somewhere around 11:30, and they’ve both abandoned their shoes to dip their feet into Seo-yun’s pool, their legs dangling off the edge (Min can barely get her feet into the pool, and it’s kind of funny). 

 

Diya can feel her cheeks going hot — though maybe they’ve been like that for the past hour, she’s not really sure. Apparently she gets heated when she’s not completely sober. “Don’t have to do that,” she murmurs, kicking up a mini-wave in the water with her foot. 

 

“Yeah, but I totally would,” Min insists, and Diya can hear the smile in her voice, right next to the sharp edge that tells her she’s definitely serious.

 

“I’m glad I have you.”

 

The words slip past her lips before Diya’s even really aware of what she’s said, but Min inhales sharply next to her, and Diya immediately scrambles to repair the damage she’s done, pulling her feet out of the water so she can turn to fully face Min. “Sorry, that — I didn’t — ”

 

She’s expecting confusion, or awkwardness, or maybe even disgust. But Min doesn’t appear to be any of those things; in fact, her eyes are wide with an emotion Diya doesn’t have a name for. 

 

Then, four words she never thought she’d hear: “Can I kiss you?” 

 

She nods, wildly and anxiously, heart fluttering in her ribcage as Min cups her face in her hands and presses their lips together. And oh, god, Min is so warm, and she tastes like cigarettes and alcohol but Diya doesn’t mind at all, and _holy crap_ is this better than she’d ever expected. 

 

They’re both grinning like fools when they break apart.

 

••••

Akarsha finds her in a corner, pretending to be completely engrossed in the inner workings of Seo-yun’s parents’ potted orchid, about ten minutes after Luisa laughed off any mention of the baseball club. Seo-yun is nowhere to be found, so Noelle has already accepted failure. It’s not a feeling she enjoys.

 

“Why the long face, Frenchman?” Akarsha asks, cradling her cup to her chest and eyeing the orchid with the same feigned interest. Noelle appreciates the effort.

 

“Luisa is either drunk or apparently invited me to this party just to be nice, which is. Ridiculous. Simply ridiculous. And I can’t find Seo-yun anywhere, so as far as I’m concerned, this party has been a complete and utter failure,” she admits, arms crossed. 

 

“That’s rough, buttercup, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy the party.”

 

“I’m not drunk,” she retorts, the slightest hint of a childish pout creeping into her tone. “I’m fairly sure that means I have perhaps a 0.5% chance of actually enjoying this.”

 

“I’m sober, and I’m having a great time,” Akarsha replies. She tilts her cup so Noelle can see inside it — it’s clear and bubbly. _Sprite_. And wow, if that isn’t the biggest surprise of the night.

 

The anger inside has quickly deflated. Instead, she just feels defeated. “I’m disappointed to say that I’m actually somewhat impressed,” she concedes. “I mean, it’s the bare minimum in terms of standards of human decency, but I suppose that’s more than I’d normally dare to expect from you.”

 

She swears a frown flashes across Akarsha’s face, if only for the briefest of moments, before it’s replaced with a wide smile, far too mischievous for her taste. “You totally like me,” Akarsha teases, voice high and lilting.

 

Noelle doesn’t want to consider the possibility that she’s blushing. “You have no idea what you’re talking about,” she hisses. 

 

Akarsha steps closer, to the point where their noses almost touch. _When did their little corner somehow become the center of the universe?_ the cheesy part of Noelle wants to wonder. “Aw, c’mon,” she practically sings. “You _looove_ me, Noelle—”

 

Noelle’s not sure who’s more surprised when she grabs Akarsha by the collar of that dumb fucking windbreaker and smashes their lips together with all the gracefulness of a giraffe attempting to eat a burrito.

 

They’re both breathless when they break apart.

 

“Um, so — ” Akarsha, for probably the first time in her life, seems to be at a loss for words.

 

“Sorry, that wasn’t the best, I should have asked, but — ” Noelle pauses, considering the stupidity of what she’s about to say, then decides she’s sick of living by rules and proverbs for now. “Can we do that again?”

 

“Wha — huh?” Akarsha stammers out, eyes wide. Then she nods so furiously that Noelle worries her head might start spinning. “I mean, hell yeah, totally—”

 

So Noelle kisses her again. And this time, it takes them more than a few seconds to stop.

 

••••

**from: min**

**9:01 AM**

**i hope u rememebr last nite cuz i do and i like u a whole fuckin lot**

 

**to: min**

**9:03 AM**

**:)**

 

**to: min**

**9:04 AM**

**i like you too.**

 

**from: min**

**9:04 AM**

**hell yea**

 

••••

**from: Akarsha**

**10:01 AM**

[ **https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2WH8mHJnhM** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2WH8mHJnhM)

**k so i wanna be a total weeb and take u to snow castle and this is how im gonna feel if u say no**

 

**to: Akarsha**

**10:05 AM**

**That’s… a man attempting to play “My Heart Will Go On” on a recorder and failing epically? That doesn’t even make sense?**

 

**to: Akarsha**

**10:06 AM**

**But I wouldn’t be opposed to Snowcastle.**

 

••••

**from: Noelle**

**to: group (akarsha, min, diya)**

**10:08 AM**

**Last night wasn’t completely terrible.**

 

**from: Noelle**

**to: group (akarsha, min, diya)**

**10:09 AM**

**Maybe we should do that again.**

 

**from: min**

**to: group (akarsha, noelle, diya)**

**10:10 AM**

**wtf i thought u were a loesr noel u cant go back on this now**

 

**from: Noelle**

**to: group (akarsha, min, diya)**

**10:11 AM**

**loser* Noelle****

 

**from: min**

**to: group (akarsha, noelle, diya)**

**10:11 AM**

**shut yoru fuck up ill fuck u up bitch**

 

**from: Noelle**

**to: group (akarsha, min, diya)**

**10:12 AM**

**I’m going to be the better person and choose to ignore that. Anyway, as I said before. If we get another invitation, I think we should all do that again. It was… manageable.**

 

**from: diya**

**to: group (akarsha, min, noelle)**

**10:13 AM**

**:D**

 

**from: akarsha**

**to: group (noelle, min, diya)**

**10:13 AM**

**ONE OF US ONE OF US**

 

**from: Noelle**

**to: group (akarsha, min, diya)**

**10:14 AM**

**Don’t make me take it back.**

 

(She won’t.) 


End file.
